NHLBI Selects Emory+Children’s Pediatric Research Center as New Pediatric Heart Network Core Site!
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University’s Collaborative Pediatric Research Center Selected as Key Site for Nationally-Funded Consortium for Pediatric Cardiac Research
ATLANTA (August 2011) – Emory-Children’s Pediatric Research Center, a partnership between Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University, was recently selected as a new Pediatric Heart Network (PHN) core site for clinical research. Created and funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the PHN is a cooperative network of pediatric cardiovascular clinical research centers that conducts studies in children with congenital or acquired heart disease. William Mahle, M.D., and William Border, M.B.Ch.B., M.P.H., will serve as Primary Investigators and lead the core site’s PHN efforts.
“The Pediatric Heart Network carries out the highest quality clinical research in our field,” said William Mahle, M.D., Pediatric Cardiologist and Medical Director of Clinical Research at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Sibley Heart Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. “This award recognizes the strong commitment that Children’s and Emory have made to supporting research and becoming international leaders in developing therapies to improve child health.”
Together, Children’s and Emory will function as one of nine core sites across the nation and Canada that will be co-recipients of the $19.6 million core clinical center funding allocated by the PHN. The Emory-Children’s program was selected for its history of successful pediatric cardiac research and strong contribution to ongoing PHN endeavors including the Single Ventricle Reconstruction (SVR) trial and SVR Extension Study. Within the five-year funding period, the core site will build upon local research initiatives that include a collaborative program involving the Children’s Sibley Heart Center, Emory University and the industrial engineering program at Georgia Institute of Technology.
“We are pleased to be a part of the Pediatric Heart Network, as their collaborative goal matches our initiatives at Children’s,” said William Border, M.B.Ch.B., M.P.H., Director of Noninvasive Imaging and Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core (CIRC) at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Sibley Heart Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. “By building a community between highly-esteemed research institutions in Atlanta and across the country and Canada, we are able to work together to ensure better outcomes for children with cardiac diseases.”
Research efforts will be conducted under the Center for Cardiovascular Biology and the Center for Clinical Outcomes Research and Public Health. These centers are part of the Emory-Children’s Pediatric Research Center led by the Children’s and Emory, including partnerships with Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School of Medicine. With the leadership of Paul Spearman, MD, Children’s chief research officer and vice chair for research in the Emory University Department of Pediatrics, 14 key priority centers have been identified. These are the Aflac Cancer Center for hematology and oncology; immunology and vaccines; transplant immunology and immune therapeutics; pediatric healthcare technology innovation; cystic fibrosis; developmental lung biology; endothelial biology; cardiovascular biology; drug discovery; autism; neurosciences; nanomedicine; outcomes research and public health; and clinical and translational research.
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Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to enhancing the lives of children through excellence in patient care, research and education. Managing more than half a million patient visits annually at three hospitals and 17 neighborhood locations, Children’s is one of the largest clinical care providers for children in the country. Children’s offers access to more than 30 pediatric specialties and is ranked among the top children’s hospitals by Parents magazine and U.S.News & World Report. With generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children’s has made an impact in the lives of children in Georgia, the United States and throughout the world. Visit www.choa.org for more information.
Children’s Sibley Heart Center
Treating more than 30,000 children annually, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Sibley Heart Center provides comprehensive cardiac services for congenital and acquired heart disease from infancy through young adulthood, as well as prenatal diagnostics. Ranked one of the country’s top pediatric cardiac programs by Parents magazine and U.S.News & World Report, the Sibley Heart Center is recognized for innovative treatments and leading-edge research. Visit www.choa.org/heart or call 404-256-2593 or 800-542-2233 for more information.
The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University is an academic health science and service center focused on missions of teaching, research, health care and public service. Its components include schools of medicine, nursing, and public health; Yerkes National Primate Research Center; the Emory Winship Cancer Institute; and Emory Healthcare, the largest, most comprehensive health system in Georgia.